Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
There was soft, warm flesh pressed against him. Josiah inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of wildflowers, and opened his eyes to find his face buried in Violet’s hair.
That wasn’t the only thing he noticed. Her back was pressed against his front and his hand was up under her shirt, his palm cupping one generous bare breast and it only took seconds for his body to respond.
His cock ached instantly, and it took every ounce of willpower he had not to squeeze the mound of flesh in his hand or thrust his hips into her luscious backside.
He slowly pulled his hand away, groaning to himself when her nipple hardened, his fingertips brushing against the bud as he did.
He slowly extracted himself from the bed, slipped on his boots, and made for the door as quickly and quietly as he could.
The air still had a bit of chill to it this early in the morning and it helped clear his head a bit. He headed for the outhouse before venturing into the jail and lighting the lamp. Then he stood staring at nothing in particular.
This fake marriage was starting to get to him. Waking up with Violet in his bed was something he could get used to which meant he needed to put a stop to it. Now.
He checked his desk for any notes anyone might have left the evening before and found none, which meant his day was pretty much free.
He could head into Elkin and find that preacher to see if he’d filed the marriage certificate with the local judge there and, if not, burn it as if the wedding never took place.
It would solve his current dilemma in an instant.
But what about Violet?
He blew out a breath and pulled out the chair behind his desk and sat down. “Damn it,” he muttered under his breath. What would happen if and when Edwin caught wind of their marriage, no longer being an issue?
He’ll come back to Silver Falls and pester her to no end. He was almost positive of it but was it really his problem?
No. It's not.
He could tell her to fix her own mess and go about his merry way, walking the town on the daily, eating his meals at Mabel’s while listening to her gossip and sleeping in his small bed without having to share it with anyone.
But truth be told, he liked sharing meals with her and he definitely liked waking up surrounded by the scent of her and feeling her plush curves pressed so intimately with his own.
Stop thinking with your cock.
He blew out another breath and stood. He needed to get to Elkin and take care of this before he did something stupid like…consummate his marriage.
Heading out of the jail, he hurried to the livery stable, saddled his horse and was riding out of town before a single soul in town was stirring.
If he was lucky, he’d be back before the sun set.
Violet laid in bed long enough to know Josiah wasn’t coming back. She flopped over and stared at the ceiling.
His side of the bed was cold now. She pulled the blankets up and tucked them under her chin, recalling the morning with a tiny smile on her face.
She’d nearly had a heart attack while sliding across the bed and spooning against him.
She’d held her breath, waiting for him to wake up and find her manipulating the situation the way she had and nearly died when he pulled her closer, burying his face in her hair before shocking her to the point her brain stopped functioning when he slid his hand up her shirt and cupped her breast.
Her body had heated as she laid there, her breasts aching while a throbbing pulse beat between her legs and she’d silently urged him to do—something. To keep touching her. To make her his wife in every way possible, but he never did. He woke and quietly left without a word.
Daisy hadn’t gone into any sort of detail during their discussion the day before about keeping Josiah interested by acting like a wife instead of just pretending to be one. But she knew them having some sort of physical contact was one way to accomplish that.
Forcing him into a compromising situation was out of the question, though.
She couldn’t manipulate him like that, forcing contact when it wasn’t wanted, but he’d done it in his sleep anyway after she’d moved closer to him.
She should probably feel bad about doing that much, but she could still feel his touch and she’d savor that tiny bit of contact while she could.
Tossing back the covers, she eventually dressed and headed home, stopping to peek inside the jail before doing so. Josiah hadn’t been there, and she wondered all the way across town where he’d gone.
Her gut told her to Elkin, but her heart refused to believe it. In her delusional world, he wanted to be married to her and wouldn’t go so far as to really have it annulled, and she hoped she was right.
The morning was like most of them and by the time she was helping Daisy clean the mess they’d made at breakfast, she was just going through the motions, so lost in thought she didn’t even look up until Daisy touched her arm.
“Did it go that bad?” her sister asked her.
“No. Everything went fine.”
“Then why are you so lost in thought?”
She sat at the table and blew out a breath. “Josiah wasn’t at the jail and since he didn’t come here for breakfast, I’m assuming he’s not in town.”
Daisy shrugged a shoulder. “There are plenty of reasons for him not to be in town.”
“Maybe, but what if he went to Elkin?”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“He wouldn’t have gone without telling you, would he?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” She shrugged. “He might have thought I’d try to talk him out of it.”
“Why would he think you’d do that? You both agreed to the annulment, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then he has no reason to believe you don’t really want it, does he?”
“No.”
Daisy gave her a tiny smile. “You’re fretting about nothing, Violet. I’m sure he’s off doing something here close to town. Elkin is half a day's ride away. Surely he’d tell someone if he was going that far away. He always leaves Rufus Clemmons in charge when he does. Was he at the jail?”
“No.”
“Then Josiah didn’t go to Elkin. I’m sure of it.”
Violet let Daisy talk her out of the notion Josiah had gone to Elkin and finally headed upstairs to change her clothes.
She set a few dresses and underthings aside as she dressed, deciding to take them to Josiah’s just in case she wasn’t able to make it back home again before nightfall and headed out of the house.
Regardless of what Josiah was doing today, she still had to work, and Rose wouldn’t care one bit about her personal dramas.
She stepped off the porch and was headed toward the sidewalk, but stopped when the sound of gunfire filled the air. Someone screamed, and she turned to the sound before dropping her bag and running.
His intuition had been right. Leaving town without telling anyone was a bad idea, the sound of gunfire filling the air only confirming it.
Josiah spurred Jake into a run as another shot rang out. Gideon stepped out onto his front porch as he rode past his house. He’d apparently heard the gunfire as well. He wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but from the sounds of the echo, it was on the other side of town.
The sound of a scream filtered down the street as he got in front of the mercantile, followed by another gunshot. If he had to guess, he’d say it was coming from the saloon.
He pulled Jake to a sliding stop near the livery stable, jumped to the ground, and started running, his hand going to the gun holstered at his hips as he neared the saloon.
Others were running toward the ruckus and when he was close enough to see the saloon doors, he saw Violet run into the building.
“Damn it.” He ran faster. The last place she needed to be was in a saloon where some drunk was shooting up the place.
The scene inside the saloon was chaotic at best. People were yelling and Bonnie was crying hysterically. A man lay across one of the new tables Archie had just finished making, a bright spot of blood blooming on his chest. Violet was beside him, her hands over an apparent gunshot wound.
She caught his eye as he came further inside and made his way toward her. His steps faltered when he saw it was Archie laying there bleeding. “What happened?”
Harland Peterson, one of the local cowboys, was the one to answer. “Some newcomers starting trouble. They were having a go at Bonnie and Archie tried to stop them and got a bullet for his trouble.”
“Any idea who they were?”
“No. Looked like saddle bums to me. They ran out before anyone could stop them.”
Josiah caught Violet’s eye. “Can you go get doc Tibbens?”
She nodded without a word and ran. Archie was gasping, his eyes wide and unfocused. Bonnie stepped up to the table. Her sobs, although warranted, did nothing to help the situation.
He nodded at Levi when he ran inside. The blacksmith glanced at Bonnie before taking her arm and pulling her away from Archie and out of the way.
It seemed like hours before Violet came back. She was out of breath when she stopped beside him. “Doc Tibbens said he can’t come.”
“He can’t come?”
Violet shook her head. “No. He said his gout was acting up, and he was in too much pain to be running around town. We’ll have to take Archie to him.”
It took him and four other men to carry Archie across town. Violet ran ahead of them and opened up the door to the small office attached to the front of Doc Tibbens’ house.
The old man was coming into the room from a doorway that led to his personal residence and Josiah noted how slowly the man was walking.
He made it to the table they’d placed Archie on and he started directing people to grab the things he needed. Violet was right by his side, fetching this and that as Doc Tibbens examined the wound.
“Bullet’s still in there.” He looked at Violet. “Want to dig it out?”
“Me?” Her eyes widened in shock.
“My eyesight ain’t what it used to be and, to be honest, I’m not sure I can stand long enough to do it.”
She looked at him, her terror plain to see. He met her gaze before giving her a small nod of his head.